BILLYA-BULLDOG
DOGS 4 LIFE
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FORMER NSW Premier and Bulldogs second-rower John Fahey has been parachuted into his embattled former club as a peacemaker in an attempt to bring its warring factions together.
Following a month of hostilities leading up to tomorrow's annual general meeting, Fahey, who was installed as World Anti-Doping Agency chairman last year, has accepted an appeal from frustrated Bulldogs chairman George Peponis to facilitate peace talks between the club's factions early next month.
Disgraced former media manager Chris O'Brien took a conciliatory step himself late yesterday when he released a statement apologising for engineering a smear campaign against director Ray Dib.
Peponis was set to inform the members of his ambitious move at tomorrow's meeting but released his speech to the Herald after a tidal wave of correspondence from fans disturbed at the toll the battle for Belmore is taking on the club.
"We need to get rid of the personality differences that are eating away at this club like a cancer," Peponis wrote. "We all know there has been entrenched acrimony between many revered figures in this place who, frankly, should be leading the way in building and bettering our club for the future. Instead we are destroying it … Petty jealousy and old divisions from long ago need to be consigned to the dustbin of history if this club is ever again to reach its potential."
Those factions clearly include the ticket of former players Graeme Hughes, Andrew Farrar, Barry Ward and Paul Dunn, who intend to oust the incumbent board and dump besieged chief executive Malcolm Noad, and have been unrepentant in their campaign in the lead-up to the elections.
While Peponis told the Herald last Saturday that he would find it difficult to work with Hughes, whom he is suing for defamation, he said he was also prepared to forget past grievances.
"I'm prepared to get in the same room as everyone else for the good of the club," Peponis said last night.
"How can anyone respect us if we don't have respect for one another? We're in danger of imploding, and the fans have reminded me this week about what I want to be remembered for as chairman. This is the most important issue facing the club right now, because if we don't do this [meet with Fahey], we'll just continue on as we have for the last three or four weeks."
The meeting wouldn't be open, including only "20 to 30 people from the relevant parties", Peponis said
O'Brien, who resigned on Wednesday night, insisted last night that he had acted independently when he decided to send journalists an email attempting to discredit Dib. The pair had mediation talks on Thursday.
"When I read the transcript of the ICAC hearing in which Ray Dib's name was mentioned, I naively and wrongly concluded that this reflected on his character," O'Brien said. "I acted spontaneously without consulting anyone - also completely out of character. Had I paused to reflect for a moment, I'm sure I would not have done what I did."
WHAT PEPONIS WILL SAY
"We need all of us to start pulling together for the good of the club. We need to stop bickering. We need to get rid of all the personality differences that are, frankly, eating away at this club like a cancer.
"With this in mind, I've spoken to John Fahey - a former player with the Bulldogs and a former premier of NSW, and a federal minister. I've asked him - and he's agreed - to facilitate a gathering in this club of the parties who have been in dispute in recent times.
"I won't list who they are but they know who they are. We all know there has been entrenched acrimony between many revered figures in this place who, frankly, should be leading the way in building and bettering our club for the future.
"Instead, we are destroying it. We will be bringing all of these factions and personalities together and, with John Fahey in the chair, we will seek to bury hatchets to draw commitment that the good of the club and everybody involved is the only thing we only need to concern ourselves with as individuals and as a group.
"Petty jealousy and old divisions from long ago need to be consigned to the dustbin of history if this club is ever again to get anywhere near its potential. We will hold that gathering in the first week of March and, frankly, I think it needs to be done on the basis that resolving the things that divide us is an imperative.
"Any individual who can't do that for the good of the club should simply move on. The bottom line is we can't have any more of the acrimony that has infected us in recent weeks and months."
* Previous page
Following a month of hostilities leading up to tomorrow's annual general meeting, Fahey, who was installed as World Anti-Doping Agency chairman last year, has accepted an appeal from frustrated Bulldogs chairman George Peponis to facilitate peace talks between the club's factions early next month.
Disgraced former media manager Chris O'Brien took a conciliatory step himself late yesterday when he released a statement apologising for engineering a smear campaign against director Ray Dib.
Peponis was set to inform the members of his ambitious move at tomorrow's meeting but released his speech to the Herald after a tidal wave of correspondence from fans disturbed at the toll the battle for Belmore is taking on the club.
"We need to get rid of the personality differences that are eating away at this club like a cancer," Peponis wrote. "We all know there has been entrenched acrimony between many revered figures in this place who, frankly, should be leading the way in building and bettering our club for the future. Instead we are destroying it … Petty jealousy and old divisions from long ago need to be consigned to the dustbin of history if this club is ever again to reach its potential."
Those factions clearly include the ticket of former players Graeme Hughes, Andrew Farrar, Barry Ward and Paul Dunn, who intend to oust the incumbent board and dump besieged chief executive Malcolm Noad, and have been unrepentant in their campaign in the lead-up to the elections.
While Peponis told the Herald last Saturday that he would find it difficult to work with Hughes, whom he is suing for defamation, he said he was also prepared to forget past grievances.
"I'm prepared to get in the same room as everyone else for the good of the club," Peponis said last night.
"How can anyone respect us if we don't have respect for one another? We're in danger of imploding, and the fans have reminded me this week about what I want to be remembered for as chairman. This is the most important issue facing the club right now, because if we don't do this [meet with Fahey], we'll just continue on as we have for the last three or four weeks."
The meeting wouldn't be open, including only "20 to 30 people from the relevant parties", Peponis said
O'Brien, who resigned on Wednesday night, insisted last night that he had acted independently when he decided to send journalists an email attempting to discredit Dib. The pair had mediation talks on Thursday.
"When I read the transcript of the ICAC hearing in which Ray Dib's name was mentioned, I naively and wrongly concluded that this reflected on his character," O'Brien said. "I acted spontaneously without consulting anyone - also completely out of character. Had I paused to reflect for a moment, I'm sure I would not have done what I did."
WHAT PEPONIS WILL SAY
"We need all of us to start pulling together for the good of the club. We need to stop bickering. We need to get rid of all the personality differences that are, frankly, eating away at this club like a cancer.
"With this in mind, I've spoken to John Fahey - a former player with the Bulldogs and a former premier of NSW, and a federal minister. I've asked him - and he's agreed - to facilitate a gathering in this club of the parties who have been in dispute in recent times.
"I won't list who they are but they know who they are. We all know there has been entrenched acrimony between many revered figures in this place who, frankly, should be leading the way in building and bettering our club for the future.
"Instead, we are destroying it. We will be bringing all of these factions and personalities together and, with John Fahey in the chair, we will seek to bury hatchets to draw commitment that the good of the club and everybody involved is the only thing we only need to concern ourselves with as individuals and as a group.
"Petty jealousy and old divisions from long ago need to be consigned to the dustbin of history if this club is ever again to get anywhere near its potential. We will hold that gathering in the first week of March and, frankly, I think it needs to be done on the basis that resolving the things that divide us is an imperative.
"Any individual who can't do that for the good of the club should simply move on. The bottom line is we can't have any more of the acrimony that has infected us in recent weeks and months."
* Previous page
